In a barrage of
mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in
Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the
nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday.
The
assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of
opposition during the uprising, comes as the U.N. Security Council
prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for
President Bashar Assad to give up power.
Two
main opposition groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, said the death toll in
Homs was more than 200 people in shelling that began late Friday. More
than half of the killings - about 140 - were reported in the Khaldiyeh
neighborhood.
"This is the worst attack of the
uprising, since the uprising began in March until now," said Rami
Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Observatory, which tracks violence through
contacts on the ground.
The reports could not be independently confirmed.
It
was not immediately clear what precipitated the attack, but there have
been reports that army defectors set up checkpoints in the area and were
trying to consolidate control.
Earlier on
Friday, deadly clashes erupted between government troops and rebels in
suburbs of the Syrian capital and villages in the south, sparking
fighting that killed at least 23 people, including nine soldiers,
activists said.
Assad is trying to crush the
revolt with a sweeping crackdown that has so far claimed thousands of
lives, but neither the government nor the protesters are backing down
and clashes between the military and an increasingly bold and armed
opposition has meant many parts of the country have seen relentless
violence.
The U.N. Security Council will meet
Saturday morning to take up a much-negotiated resolution on Syria, said a
diplomat for a Western nation that sits on the council.
The diplomat spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by the media.
The
move toward a vote came after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an
effort to overcome Russian opposition to any statement that explicitly
calls for regime change or a military intervention in Syria.
The
U.S. and its partners have ruled out military action but want the
global body to endorse an Arab League plan that calls on Assad to hand
power over to Syria's vice president.
Russia's
deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, said Friday that Moscow could
not support the resolution in its current form. But he expressed
optimism that an agreement could be reached, according to state news
agency RIA Novosti.
Assad's regime has been
intensifying an assault against army defectors and protesters. The U.N.
said weeks ago that more than 5,400 people have been killed in violence
since March. Hundreds more have been killed since that tally was
announced.
